Beer

History of beer

Beer was certainly brewed by the ancient Egyptians and had almost certainly arrived in Britain by the Neolithic period - the builders of Stonehenge would undoubtedly have enjoyed a pint or two after a hard day's work.

When the Romans arrived, they tried to introduce wine through their tabernae, but the British climate is really better suited for cereal growing. So, the British carried on with their brewing.

Beer was brewed in the home, on farms, in wayside taverns and, later, in the great monasteries. There was no brewing in breweries that we would recognise today, and until refrigeration was introduced in the 1880s, beer was only brewed in the colder months from September to April or May.

The Normans re-introduced wine - and popularised cider - but ale was by then the staple drink of the people.

Naturally, as brewing became more organised, it attracted the attention of the tax collectors. In fact, we have been taxed nationally on our enjoyment of ale or beer since 1188, when Henry II introduced the so called 'Saladin Tithe' to pay for the Crusades.

Ale was brewed for centuries without hops. Beer, which came from the Low Countries and was first imported into England in the 15th century, used hops as a flavouring and a preservative.

It took almost 150 years but hops eventually came to be accepted as a vital part of the taste of ale. Prior to the 1400s, ale had been flavoured with herbs such as rosemary and thyme, but the hop, with its mildly antiseptic quality, helped preserve ale from spoiling.

Beer and ale became synonymous, as did beerhouse and alehouse, until new beer styles were developed in the 18th and 19th centuries. Find out more about British beer styles.

Find out about British beer styles.